Giuliani Will Not Run Again

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Giuliani Will Not Run Again

NEW YORK – Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on Wednesday dropped attempts to stay in office for another term, but urged potential successors to consider a longer transition to help the city recover from the World Trade Center attacks.

"I'm not going to run for another term," said Giuliani, whose popularity soared with his calm leadership after the Sept. 11 attacks, prompting calls for term limits law to be repealed so he could serve a third consecutive four-year term.

"Anybody who thinks they are ready for this job on January 1, given the monumental task, doesn't understand this job," Republican Giuliani said at a news conference.

Two out of three of Giuliani's potential successors said they would delay their inauguration by three months so the popular, crisis-managing Republican would be able to continue helping the city's recovery after attacks by hijacked planes that left more than 5,500 dead or missing and hurt the economy.

But there were not enough supporters of the proposal in the New York State Assembly or the City Council to revise legislation to lengthen Giuliani's term in any way.

The state's Conservative Party had held its spot on the Nov. 6 ballot for Giuliani if there had been support for a change in the term limits law.

Giuliani said he called Conservative Party chairman Michael Long on Wednesday to tell him he would not run. Long said Giuliani had told him he would not pursue any extension, even for three months. However, at his news conference, Giuliani said he had not revised the proposal he made to the three candidates.

Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, a Democratic mayoral candidate, did not agree to Giuliani's proposal, giving his campaign momentum in the Oct. 11 Democratic primary run-off with Public Advocate Mark Green. The winner will face the Republican nominee, media mogul Michael Bloomberg, in the Nov. 6 general election.

Ferrer was boosted on Tuesday by the endorsement of former Mayor Ed Koch, a New York icon. Koch criticized Green for quickly agreeing to Giuliani's proposal last week.

Koch said Ferrer, who would be New York's first Puerto Rican mayor if he was elected, was "tough enough to stand up to Giuliani when Mark Green folded."

A poll published on Tuesday showed Giuliani's approval rating at 90 percent in New York state, but voters were split on whether a term limits law should be repealed.